A wedding canopy (Hebrew: chuppah) is a symbolic covering traditionally suspended over the bridal couple during a Jewish wedding ceremony. The chuppah symbolizes both the house in which the couple will set up married life and the temporary nature of the couple's life on earth. It recalls the nomadic lifestyle of the biblical Hebrews.
A prayer shawl (Hebrew: tallit; Yiddish: tallis) is a rectangular cloth worn by Jews around the shoulders and upper arms during prayer in accordance with the Biblical injunction to wear a fringed garment. Not only does the prayer shawl bear fringes along both of its shorter sides, but it has a set of special fringes (Hebrew: tzitzit; Yiddish: tsitsis) each of which is braided through a hole provided at one of the four corners of the prayer shawl. The prayer shawl is traditionally woven with stripes running parallel to and near each of the shorter ends, and often an embroidered piece is affixed at the midsection of the one of the longer ends that is worn against the back of the neck. Other decorations and personalizations are optionally employed.
A garment (Hebrew tallit katan) that provides four of the aforementioned special fringes (tzitziyot) on a shirt or vest is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,494 and 4,912,780.
In the past, a wedding canopy has sometimes employed a single, large prayer shawl, raised upon four poles.